Mice Help!

[bwfc1965]

Hope this is the correct forum.

I have been renovating a stone house in rural Brittany for four years now. The last couple of years I have noticed lots of mice droppings and also the mice have started destroying the furniture.

I have laid traps and poison and also have a couple of plug in repellents.

Neither seem to be solving the problem.

They seem to live in the walls and the ceilings (newly laid plasterboard with insulation) I can hear them at night and have seen a couple during the day.

I am desperate now as my wife and daughter are coming over next month for the first time in a couple of years and they won't sleep if the mice are still there.

Can anyone recommend a good plug in repellent or any other deterrents?

Thanks

Steve

[Quillan]

If you live here all the time then a cat (or two) is the best solution. We have three and have not seen a mouse or rat in the last six or seven years. The other alternative is to get proffesional help.

[osie]

Since we ended up with 2 cats I regularly see entrails on the mat outside and sometimes the mice run inside the house to escape the cats.  Nevertheless we are very happy with them...

We had some poo and sounds in the roof and I believe it was due to bats rather than mice.... I sealed up any holes with foam and pebbles and it did the trick.

When we have had a mouse or two I would look for any holes between the floor and wall and fill them in...  they occasionally make holes and I occasionally fill them in...

The rat poison also works... I put a load down and after a few weeks all is good.... although not so good for the rat.

The odd mouse I have seen in the house are these tiny round balls of fur... probably just getting away from the cats

[Araucaria]

Unless you get a cat I think the only realistic option is poison, which is effective but not instant - it takes a couple of weeks.

Makes sure the droppings are not from bats (which are not a problem at all, and anyway they are, quite rightly, protected).

Mouse and bat droppings are the same size and shape, but if you pick up a bit of bat poo it is completely dry and crumbles away between your fingers - it's the remains of the outer shells of the insects they eat. Mouse poo sticks to your fingers.

[bwfc1965]

Thanks for the rerply's.

I am sure they are mice as I have seen the little blighters

I would love cats, but as we are only at the home 3-4 times a year we are not able to kkep them.

I have tried poison and it doesn't seem to be a complete cure.

We are looking for a long term solution.

Anyone got any options?

Thanks Again.

Steve

[Aly]

Get a good quality expensive poison. They mummify the mice, no smell and easy to use. Just keep any pets well clear of the stuff.

[Yonner]

You’re doing what can be done, so keep going.  We’ve had similar issues and poison, traps

and an electric repeller all added to the cumulative effect – we also

befriended a local cat or two who helped while we were at the house – like you

we’re not resident fully.

With the poison, and I hope this isn’t stating the obvious,

but just in case,  place it everywhere

you suspect they are - roof, kitchen corners, outbuildings etc and importantly try to make

it the only food source, so all food in the kitchen in tin containers ( or at

least Tupperware style boxes) no bags or cardboard.  The poison we used is a small red rice grain –

can’t remember the brand – but they seemed to love it, it was always gone next

day ( which gladdens the heart, on a dark level!!)

One final thing, if they are coming in at the junction of

walls and floor, as ours were in the kitchen, try tiling up the wall about 10cm

if it’s not too unsightly, they get turned off trying to gnaw through ceramic

once they penetrated placo.

All the best.

[Cendrillon]

I'll second that advice!

The electric repellers worked for us and keeping all food stuff in plastic containers or tins. Tin foil pushed into any holes also seems to help.

[osie]

I stuff wire mesh in big holes and our neighbours put flour and cement down.. so that the cement solidifies in the stomach and kills them.. havent tried it myself...

[PaulT]

Are you sure they are not Siberian Hamsters? [:D]

[Loiseau]

Bear in mind when setting traps or laying bait that mice tend to run along the edges of a room, so it's best to place devices in those positions.

Can you borrow a cat from a friendly neighbour for a week or two?

Angela

[bwfc1965]

Thanks for the reply's.

I will try everything and report back. I am in France again on the 19th, armed with everything to rid the home of the mice, hopefully before my family come the following week

[Jo]

Just bear in mind if you use english electronic devices, get the ones you use in each room. I bought the ones that are supposed to work one on each floor by sending pulses through the ring main. Didn't realise France doesn't use ring mains! D'oh!!

The others I found quite good as long as the room isn't too cluttered, they need a clear 'view' of the room. We don't have a problem now as we are full time and have two cats, haven't seen one since they moved in!!

[andyps]

We have the electronic repellents in almost all the rooms in our house, they have definitely helped but I decided we must have some deaf mice and bats as we still see small amounts evidence of them each time we arrive, generally in corners where the sound waves probably haven't reached. We even saw a mouse this time but could tell where it came from - a hole in the corner of the floor - so that quickly got filled and we didn't see it again for the next four weeks.

Our repellents came from this place - http://www.pestcontrolshop.co.uk/acatalog/mice.html